Normally I wouldn't be the least interested in a story about a kid finding themselves, but Kelly Fremon-Craig also made 2016's The Edge of Seventeen, which wasn't just hilariously funny, it somehow avoided the common smarmy tropes we always get about teenagers.

At my stage in life I consider it a particular talent if a director or writer can make me relate to or empathise with the plight of a kid – usually the writer is too self consciously trying to make them ironically hip, every adult in their life is an idiot who'll never understand, etc. It's the reason I couldn't watch more than one episode of that Netflix series Thirteen Reasons Why.

And I didn't exactly relate to Margaret, a girl entering her teens in 1970s America, because her experience is even further away from mine than that of Nadine, the heroine Hailee Steinfeld played in The Edge of Seventeen. But the script and performances kept me interested in what was going to happen to her.

Played with just enough rough edges to add to the charm and verve by Abby Ryder Fortson, Margaret is abruptly told by her loving parents Barbara (Rachel McAdams) and Herb (Benny Safdie) that they're leaving New York City to move to the suburbs of New Jersey thanks to her Dad's job prospects.

Margaret is horrified at leaving her school, friends and especially her adoring grandma Sylvia (Kathy Bates), and the loving Barbara bends over backwards to make it as painless for Margaret as possible.

Gradually she finds her feet at school and in the neighbourhood, especially when Nancy, the too-confident-by-half girl who lives next door virtually strongarms Margaret into joining her circle of friends.

In fact things go so smoothly the script is interesting in that there's no real antagonist. You keep expecting Nancy or another of Margaret's peers to turn on her, or for the WASPY PTA mothers to similarly turn on Barbara, but even though they share similar story arcs where they prove themselves more urbane and self sufficient than the strictures their new life places on them, the people around each character are consistently nice and friendly, even if occasionally mysterious.

If there any intended antagonist it might be religion. The conceit of the story is that Margaret is asking herself the questions 12 year old girls have since the concept of the teenager was invented; when will I grow boobs, when will I get my period, how do I deal with my sudden fascination for boys, etc.

In her pursuit of answers she tries to generate a relationship with God, asking the question that gives the movie its title in quieter moments. Margaret has been bought up without any formal religion because her Jewish father and Christian mother are both non practising, leaving her to make up her own mind.

It's a theme that actually gives Barbara a well told and deeper story that will emerges towards the end. Her parents disowned her for marrying a Jew and she hasn't spoken to them in years, and when she does – maybe out of curiosity, maybe out of a deeper need she's barely acknowledged – it kicks a hornet's nest that conjures up old hurts and confuses Margaret even more.

Barbara is also experiencing her own ennui, conscious of her own selfhood and the artist she once was, worried now she's now nothing more than a suburban mother.

Where McAdams is usually only perky and cute (and don't get me wrong, she is here too), she gives a beautiful performance conveying Barbara's inner struggle, and I loved that Fremon-Craig's script acknowledged her travails just as much as Margaret's (see above about most stories involving teens depicting adults as well meaning but clueless morons).

It was a story element just as welcome as the way it depicted how a teen can have a good, loving and understanding relationship with her parents.

I didn't even know Judy Blume's YA novel the movie's based on from the 70s existed, but I've read since how deeply this film does the themes in it justice, and I can only imagine how good the book is. The roles are all beautifully written and cast, and it's a great example of a story that doesn't need an enemy to be interesting.